Brief case, portfolio or similar container



June 7, 1932. N. OTTINGER 1,861,974

;.RIEF CASE, PORTFOLIO, OR SIMILAR CONTAINER Filed March 21, 1951INVENTOR. 116172072 flfz'rzyer BY 5 1 A TTORNEY Patented June 7, 1932NATHAN o'rrmenn, on NEW YOR-K,1\T. Y.

BRIEF CASE, roia'rronro on SIMILAR CONTAINER I Application filed March21, 1931. Serial No. 524,251.

This invention relates to brief cases, portfolios or similar containersfor documents or other articles, of the kind referred to in my pendingapplication Serial No. 521,760,

) filed March 11, 1931.

As in my pending application, the case or container constructed ofleather or other flexible material, is provided with a body wall havinga pocket-like retainer extended over a portion of said body wall on oneside thereof together with relatively foldable parts cooperating tosecurely and completely close the open side of the pocket without theuse of extraneous or additional locks of any kind and which will beadequate to securely retain the papers or other articles within the caseagainst accidental loss therefrom.

It is the primary object and purpose of my present improvements toprovide the relatively foldable pocket closing parts of the case withdirectly coacting means operative to securely hold said parts inconnected relationship and in their pocket closing positions.

It is another object of my invention to provide improved means forsecurely connecting the pocket closing flaps or sections of the casewhich is exceedingly simple, does not involve any intricate or difiicultmanipulation of the parts, or detract from the neat and symmetricalappearance of the case when closed. 7

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved brief case, portfolio or other analogous container possessingthe above noted advantageous features, and in the form. construction andrelative arrangement of its severalparts as will be hereinafter morefully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, andsubsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims. 7

In the drawing, wherein I have disclosed several simple and practicalembodiments of the invention, andin which similar reference charactersdesi nate corres ondin arts throughout the several views Figure 1s aplan now of the blank from which the case 15 formed, lllustratmg onesimple and practical embodiment of my present invention Fig. 2 is a.similar view showing certain parts of the blank arranged in permanentlyconnected relation to form a retaining pocket; Y

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing one ofthe pocket closing parts or sectionsin folded position to close the open side of the pocket;

Fig. 4is a plan view showing the other 7 pocket closing part in foldedposition and connected with the part closing the side of the pocket toclose one end of the case; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken onthe line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are plan views corresponding to Figs. 3 and 4, andillustrating a slightly modified form of the device.

Referring in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to5 thereof, the body of the case or container is produced in the form ofa blank sheet'of leather or other similar material which includes theintermediate section 5 of any suitable dimensions to form one side wallof the case and the substantially triangular shaped sections 6 and 7respectively, constituting the opposite end portions of the blank andextending inwardly from the section 5. Theobliquely inclined edges 8 and9 respectively, of the end sections 6 and 7 are disposed insubstantially parallel relation so that the said sections 5, 6 and 7 ofthe blank, thus together define an elongated parellogram.

The section 5 at one of its lateral edges is provided with an integraltriangular shaped extension 10, and along one edge of this extension fora predetermined portion of its length, a narrow tongue or flap 11 isprovided. The sections 6 and 7 are adapted to be folded inwardly uponone side of the section 5 along the lines indicated at 12 and 13respectively, while the extension 10 is foldable inwardly over the endof the folded section 7 along the line indicated at 14. The narrowtongue or flap 11 is adapted to be folded upon the inner side of thetriangular section 10 along the line 15 and closely pressed thereon sothat owing to the inherent nature of the material, it will retain amore.or less set or permanent relation to the inner face of the extension 10,though capable of being manually flexed with respect thereto.

As herein shown, I provide the flap 16 which may be of the same ordifferent material from the blank constituting the body of the case. Inthe present instance, this flap is cut to provide an obliquely inclinededge 17 which is disposed upon the inner side of the section 7 of thecase body in inwardly spaced parallel relation from its inclined edge 9and permanently secured thereto in any preferred manner, as by thestitching. indicated at 18. This line of stitching extends from onelateral edge ofthe section 7 of the case to the fold line 13, the otherfree edges of the flap 16 preferably extending at right angles to eachother as shown. This flap is of less length than the body wall of thecase, and the free lateral side edge 19 thereof is inwardly spaced fromthe corresponding parallel side edge 20 of the body wall 5. The inclinededge 9 of the section 7 does not intersect the juncture point of theedge 20 with I St the fold line 13 but extends beyond the edge 19 of theflap 16 and joins an extension of the side edge 20 of the section 5 inspaced relation to the fold line 13 as indicated at 21. This is animportant feature which insures the easy and quick inward folding of theparts 7 and 16 and the closing of the open side of the case pocket.

Having provided the structure as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, theformation of the caseis completed by merely folding the triangularsection 6' inwardly along the line 12 upon the body section 5 and thenpermanently securing this triangular section along its lateral side edgein any preferred manner to the body wall section 5 of the case, as bythe stitching shown at 22. Thus, there is produced a retaining pocket onone side of the body wall 5 extending over a portion of the areathereof, the edge 8 of the section 6 at the open side of the pocketextending diagonally between the opposite corners of the case.

I It will be apparent that by the attachment of the flap 16 to the inneror under side of the section 7 in spaced relation to the edge 9 of saidsection, there is thus produced by said obliquely inclined edge portionof the section 1'; 7 extending outwardly from the line of stitching 18',a relatively yieldable flap indicated at 23. Thus, inclosing the case,when the section 7 is folded inwardly along the line 13, the flap 16extending beyond the edge 9 of said section is inserted beneath thepocket section 6 upon the papers or other articles contained therein,the edge 8 of the section. 6 at the open side of the pocket beingreceived between said flap 16' and the flap 23, said latter flap alongthe edge of the section 7 overlying the edge of the pocket wall 6 andyieldingly pressing upon the outer surface thereof- To complete theclosing of the case pocket, the triangular laterally projecting sectionon the body wall 5 is now folded inwardly upon the section 7 and as itis pressed downwardly thereon, the flexible locking tongue 11 ismanually manipulated and engaged over the obliquely inclined edge 9 ofthe flap 23 so as to extend under said flap and between the same and thepocket wall 6. Thus, as seen in Fig. l of the drawing, there is secureda close interlocking coaction between the tongue 11 and the flap 23,said interlocking parts mutually functioning to retain the sect-ions 7.and 10 respectively, in their closely folded relation withoutnecessitating the use of a lock or other extraneous or additionalmechanical fastening device. The locking tongue 11 is of sufficientwidth so as to per mit of a certain amount of relative flexing movementof sections 10 and 11 when the side walls of the case pocket aredistended or bulged by the contents thereof without re leasing theinterlocked connection between:

said tongue and the flap 23.

In Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawing, I have indicated a slight modificationof the device, in which the edge portion of the flap 23 with which thelocking tongue 11 on the section or flap 10 is adapted to engage, is cutdown or recessed for a distance substantially equal to the thickness ofthe material as indicated at 24. Thus, as shown in Fig. 7 of thedrawing, when the locking tongue 11 is folded under this relativelynarrow part of the flap 23, the outer surface of said folded tonguealong the fold line 15 thereof Will extend substantially in alignmentwith the remaining obliquely inclined edge portion of the flap 23. Thisside of the case, when the same is closed by the relatively foldingparts, will thus present a very neat appearance. This construction willalso lessen the possibility of the cuff of a sleeve. or other part ofthe clothing being accidentally caught under the end of the lockingtongue 11 whereby the same might be disengaged from the flap 23 and theclosure section 10 released for movement to the open position. v

When a brief case or portfolio constructed in accordance with eitherembodiment of the invention as above described is closed upon thecontents of the retaining pocket, it will be evident that thecase andits contents may be conveniently carried without possibility of theaccidental loss of papers, documents, or other articles containedtherein, notwithstanding the fact that no straps, looks or otheradditional fastening or securing means is provided.

It will be apparent that the brief case or portfolio of the aboveconstruction will be of great convenience in daily use or service bylawyers or others whose profession practically necessitates the use ofsuch carriers, the contents of which must be frequently displayed orused in the course of the day. Thus, by means of my novel case orportfolio construction, instant access may be had to all of the casecontents by merely first releasing the locking connections between thetongue 11 and flap 23, and then lifting upon the flap 23 whereby theflap 16 will be withdrawn from the interior of the case, and thefoldable parts or sections 7 and 10 moved outwardly in extended relationto the body wall 5 of the case. The major portion of the case contentsis thus exposed to View below the obliquely inclined edge 8 of theretainer wall 6 of the case pocket. Without removing the contents fromthe pocket of the case, any particular individual paper may be easilyand quickly selected and withdrawn. The numerous papers which may becontained in the case pocket will therefore, not become scattered withthe danger of possible loss of important documents, as occasionallyoccurs in the use of the ordinary lawyers brief case, in which theselection of an individual paper or document cannot be made withoutconsiderable inconvenience or difliculty unless all of the papers areremoved from the case.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawing, the construction, manner of use and severaladvantages of the described embodiments of my present invention will befully understood. In either of the constructions herein referred to, itis evident that if desired, instead of attaching the flap 16 to theinner side of the section 7 this section of the case may be ofsubstantially rectangular form, and a diagonally extending sealing flapof yieldable material attached to the outer side thereof to overlap theedge of the pocket wall 6 and resiliently act upon the outer surfacethereof when the part or section 7 is in its folded position over thecontents of the case.

It will further be apparent that while I have herein referred to severalcontainer constructions of simple and practical form embodying theessential features of my present invention, such a container might alsobe produced in various other alternative constructions, and it willaccordingly be understood that the privilege is reserved of resorting toall such legitimate changes in matters of form. construction and shape,as well as the materials of which the several parts may be produced, asmay be fairly considered within the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.

I claim:

1. A container having a body wall, a wall extending over a part of oneside of said body wall and in conjunction therewith forminga pocket-likeretainer, said latter wall having a free edge at the open side of thepocket extending across said body wall, and closure means for thecontainer pocket including a part movably connected to the body wallalong one edge thereof and a member connected with said part in spacedrelation to one of its free edges, said part being adapted to overliethe remaining area of-said body wall when in closed position and thefree edge of said part and said memberextending beyond thefree edge ofsaid second named wall and-upon the inner and outer surfaces thereof,and an'end closure for the pocket movably connected with anotheredge ofsaid body wall foldable into superimposed.rela tion upon the partclosing the'open side of thepocket and having means for releasableinterlocking engagement with the element extending from said part uponthe outer-side of said second named wall.

'2'. A container having a body wall, a wall extending over a part of oneside of said body wall and in conjunction therewith forming apocket-like retainer, said latter wall having a free edge at the openside of the pocket extending across said bodywall, and closure means forthecontainer pocket including a part .movably connected to the body wallalong one edge thereof and a member connected with said partin spacedrelation to one of its free edges, said part being adapted to overlietheremaining area ofsaid body wall when in closed position and the freeedge of'said part and said member extending beyond thevfree edge of saidsecond named wall and upon the inner and outer surfaces thereof, and anend closure for the pocket movably-connected with another edge of saidbody wall foldable intov superimposed relation upon the part closing theopen side of the pocket and having a relatively flexible part extendingalong one edge thereof for releasable interlocking engagement under theedge of the element extending from said first named part upon the outerside of said second named wall.

3. A container having a body wall, a wall extending over a part of oneside of said body wall and in conjunction therewith forming apocket-like retainer, said latter wall having a free edge at the openside of the pocket extending across said body wall, and closure meansfor the container pocket including a part movably connected to the bodywall along one edge thereof and a member connected with said part inspaced relation to one of its free edges, said part being adapted tooverlie the remaining area of said body wall when in closed position andthe free edge of said part and said member extending beyond the freeedge of said second named wall and upon the inner and outer surfacesthereof, and an end closure for the pocket movably connected withanother edge of said body wall foldable into superimposed relation uponthe part closing the open side of the pocket and having an integrallyformed part projecting inwardly from one edge thereof for releasableinterlocking engagement under the edge of the element extending fromsaid first named part upon the outer side of said second named wall.

4. A container comprising a blank of parallelogrammatic shape embodyingan intermediate section and relatively foldable substantially triangularshaped end sections, one of said end sections of the body being inwardlyfoldable upon one side of said intermediate section and secured theretoto form a pocket-like retainer with one free edge of said triangularshaped end section extending diagonally across the intermediate sectionat the open side of the pocket, the other triangular shaped end sectionconstituting closure means for said open side of the pocket and carryingparts projecting upon opposite sides of said first named triangularshaped section beyond the free edge thereof when said second named endsection is in closed position, and said blank also including a sectionextending laterally from one end of said intermediate section andfoldable inwardly upon said second named triangular shaped end sectionto close the end of the pocket, and said latter section having a:relatively flexing tongue extending inwardly from one edge thereof andadapted for interlocking engagement with the edge of the part on saidsecond named triangular end section extending exteriorly upon said firstnamed triangular section.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedby name hereto.

NATHAN OTTINGER.

